Dr. Daniel McNamara

Daniel earned a BA from Hampshire College, an MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and a PhD from Emory University. Since 2018, he has taught classes in Buddhist philosophy, methodology, history, and translation in the BA and MA programs at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. His academic interests include early Tibetan history, philosophical disputes between Mādhyamikas and Yogācārins, and historical relations between Buddhism and Islam. His dissertation examines the 11th-century siddha-scholar Ratnākaraśānti’s refutations of Mādhyamikas, on which Daniel is currently preparing several lectures and articles. 

Daniel’s dissertation is a translation and study of a difficult work of philosophy, composed in Sanskrit but available only in Tibetan. His translations also appear in Words of a Gentle Sage: Collected Teachings of Khenpo Appey Rinpoche and as part of the 84000 Project. He has also translated a wide variety of sādhanas and commentaries for teachers in the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions.

Along with Tibetan and Sanskrit, Daniel reads Latin, French, and Greek. He loves Tibetan art and iconography, and Greco-Roman architecture and poetry. He also enjoys trekking in the Himalayas, visiting islands in Thailand, and generally roaming about.